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County approves roughly $1.2 million in opioid-settlement grants after RFA process
Summary
The board approved a round of awards from opioid settlement funds recommended by the county’s Public Safety Coordinating Council and an RFA review panel; five applications met criteria for funding, with monitoring and metrics required of awardees, staff said.
Amanda Busban of the Southeast Florida Behavioral Health Network and Carrie Lester, CEO of Thrive, told the Board of County Commissioners that staff issued a short RFA to allocate unspent opioid-settlement funds based on a county needs assessment.
Busban said the RFA received nine applications; six advanced to oral presentations and five were recommended for partial awards. The review panel included four members of the Indian River Opioid Task Force and one SEFBHN representative. Applicants collectively requested about $1.2 million for one-year projects; the panel awarded a subset of those requests and will require grantees to submit metrics and periodic data reporting.
Carrie Lester said the process was driven by needs-assessment priorities emphasizing access to care and peer workforce development. One approved application seeks to train up to 100 peer support workers and support their required 500 service hours to achieve certification, Lester said. Staff and the Public Safety Coordinating Council will monitor outcomes and present reports to the board.
Commissioners praised staff for rapid execution of the RFA and approved the panel’s recommended awards (motion by Commissioner Fletcher; second by Commissioner Erman). The board’s approval authorizes staff to finalize grant agreements and begin monitoring per the terms presented.
